Young Riverdale-actor Ryan Grantham scared in jail after killing his mom

Actor Ryan Grantham, 24, was sentenced to life in prison for killing his mother. He shot her from behind in the neck, while she sat in her home playing the piano.

Image: 'Undercover Cheerleader'

A few days after entering the correctional facility, the young actor requested a change of department to prevent other inmates from physically assaulting him.

Image: 'Considering Love and Other Magic,' Manitoba Inc.

The actor's physical appearance has caused "concern" for his attorney, Chris Johnson, who fears that "other prisoners will take advantage and perhaps abuse him," Fox News reported.

Image: 'Considering Love...'

Ryan Grantham is serving time in the maximum security section of a Canadian prison with dangerous inmates.

It remains to be seen whether the judge will grant the lawyer's request, considering the crime his client has committed.

Photo: 'Considering Love...'

Sentenced to life for the murder of his mother, the actor won't be eligible for parole in 14 years. At that point, he will be 38 years old.

Image: 'Undercover Cheerleader'

The actor, known for series and films like 'Riverdale' and 'Considering Love and Other Magic,' was sentenced in September by Vancouver judge Kathleen Kerr. She convicted him of second-degree murder, a crime to which he himself had confessed and pleaded guilty.

The events, as reported by TMZ, took place on March 31, 2020. Ryan Grantham shot his mother, Barbara Waite, in the neck while she was playing the piano at her home in Squamish, British Columbia.

Photo: 'Considering Love...'

Ryan Grantham detailed to the judge how he had planned everything in detail, rehearsing every move. "I shot her in the back of the head. In the moments after, she would have known it was me," he said in his statement.

Photo: 'Riverdale,' the CW

According to The Daily Telegraph, the statement was accompanied by a recording of his mother's lifeless body, made with a GoPro.

Image: 'Becoming Redwood'

After the shooting, Ryan Grantham covered the lifeless body with a sheet, placed a rosary on the piano, and lit candles around it while he drank and watched Netflix. This is what he later told the police.

Photo: 'Considering Love...'

After murdering his mother, the actor loaded his car with three pistols, ammunition, a dozen Molotov cocktails, a camping kit and a map to get to Rideau Cottage in Ottawa. His next target was Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

After driving for hours, he decided to turn around and carry out a mass shooting instead; either at the Lions Gate Bridge or at Simon Fraser University, where he was studying.

Photo: 'Becoming Redwood'

Finally, he chose to go to the Vancouver Police Office and turn himself in, confessing that he had killed his mother.

Photo: 'Becoming Redwood'

In the meantime, Lisa Grantham, the actor's sister, had already found her mother's lifeless body at her house. One day had gone by since the day of the murder.

Photo: 'Supernatural,' The CW

Lisa Grantham testified at the trial and claimed that she dreaded her brother's release from prison. She recalled that the actor's last months before the attack had been filled with homicidal thoughts.

Photo: 'Considering Love...'

In any case, as TMZ points out, Judge Kerr considered it a "saving grace" that the killer had chosen to turn himself in, rather than commit mass murder.

Photo: 'Considering Love...,' Manitoba Inc.

The judge believed that Ryan Grantham seemed genuinely remorseful and described the event as "tragic and heartbreaking."

Photo: Becoming Redwood / Instagram

It remains puzzling, however, what could possibly have caused the talented young actor to commit matricide like that.

Ryan Grantham was in his early twenties when he went off the rails, but he had been a promising child actor with roles in The CW's series 'Supernatural,' 'IZombie,' and 'Riverdale' (image).

He played his first role in film when he was just 9 years old. Grantham appeared in the 2007 TV movie 'The Secret of the Nutcracker.'

Photo: 'Supernatural,' The CW

Most of his work was in movies: 'Diary of a Wimpy Kid' (2010), 'Becoming Redwood' (2012), and 'Liz' (2011). The latter earned him a Best Actor award at the 2012 Vancouver Short Film Festival.

Photo: Becoming Redwood / Instagram

In 2019, an episode of 'Riverdale' and the movie 'Undercover Cheerleader' would be his final productions. Then, it became quiet around the Canadian actor... until he shot his mother.